Miraculous Soul
by The 37th Butcher
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir are used to dealing with akumas. But they weren't prepared for the citizens of Paris to become twisted and ravenous for carnage. When the source is discovered to be an ancient evil thought long to be extinguished, the heroes find themselves on a journey to end its rampage once and for all.
1. Transcending History

**...Don't judge me. Blame Kristine Angela Booth for the fact this crossover exists. Okay, I claim some ownership because I wrote it. But she dragged me into the Miraculous fandom, so it's her fault too. :P And then Project Soul decided to obliterate what was left of my social life, so they released Soul Calibur VI in October of last year. But you know what? I did my waiting. Six years of it.** **In Azkaban.** **And I have basically binge played since release day. So what happens when I'm a fan of Miraculous** ** _and_** **Soul Calibur?**

 _ **Miraculous Soul**_ **happens. If you love both, you might enjoy this. If you love one and hadn't heard of the other, I hope you enjoy regardless.**

 **Chapter one...FIGHT.**

 **4/10/19: Aw man, I thought I was getting better at this! Miraculous is (C) Thomas Astruc, and Soul Calibur belongs to Namco and Project Soul. Okay! NOW you can read. XD**

* * *

 **Chapter One**

 **Transcending History**

The hatch to the roof of Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie flew open. Marinette's arms shot upward, and she pulled herself onto the roof. She shut the door behind her and walked to the railing, resting her arms on it and staring out at the city before her. As interesting as the homework Ms. Bustier gave her class today was, fresh air was definitely in order.

She must have seen this view a thousand times, but every single time, the stained glass of Notre Dame sparkling under the twilight sun, and the river below glimmering like incandescent diamonds took her breath away. The wind had come through, delicately cutting through the air and rustling the leaves in the trees. It caught Marinette's dark hair as well, playing with it. The girl closed her eyes, craning her head towards the sun, and took in a crisp breath that seemed to renew her.

"Mm. Such a nice breeze," Marinette sighed.

Lowering her head, she opened her eyes and continued to watch the streets below, flocked with people walking about, enjoying this day.

"Tikki?" she asked.

Her red kwami zoomed right next to her face.

"What is it, Marinette?" Tikki asked.

"Have any of the Ladybugs ever revealed their identities?" she asked.

Tikki shook her head. "That's a cardinal rule that cannot be broken," she replied. "Why?"

Marinette's eyes widened and she held up her hands defensively. "No, no, I-I'm not even thinking about that! It's just…" She sighed. "That holy warrior from the poem Ms. Bustier wanted us to read. She's just like me. A baker's daughter chosen by Hephaestus to conquer this great evil. I just wonder...what did people think of her?"

Tikki floated in front of her chosen. "Are you wondering what the people would think if they knew who their savior was?"

Marinette quirked a smile. "You know me like the back of your hand." She gazed back out into the city. "They think of Ladybug as this...I don't know, hardcore superhero, but she's just a baker's daughter. And a totally awkward klutz." Her voice dropped slightly as she thought of all the times she couldn't get a coherent sentence out to Adrien, and the times she tripped over herself trying to go somewhere or do something.

"Marinette, you have to remember, I've watched over thousands of Ladybugs," Tikki said, floating beside her once more. "I mean it when I say they're all different. Each one of them came from a different walk of life. Just because this warrior was able to defeat that evil doesn't make you any less of a hero. And the fact she started out as a baker's daughter didn't change that either. Both of you had to prove your worth. That's why you were chosen in the first place."

Marinette smiled in response. "Thanks, Tikki. I just hope that, someday, Chat Noir and I can defeat Hawk Moth like she did with...whatever that was."

"We will, Marinette. With the way things go every time there's an akuma, that day may come sooner than you think."

Tikki had a knack for lifting Marinette's spirits, even over the pettiest of issues. Though Marinette did have hope that day would eventually come, her kwami occasionally needed to keep that above the dark waters of doubt. Even then, Marinette couldn't help but wonder if there really was someone else better qualified for the job.

 _Maybe that warrior felt the same way,_ the logical part of her mind whispered.

"One of those Ladybugs didn't happen to be a holy warrior, did they?" Marinette asked.

Tikki shook her head. "I remember every single one of them. I never had to work with a holy warrior."

"E-every single Ladybug?" Marinette's jaw dropped. Tikki nodded, affirming her exclamation. "That's... a _lot_ of Ladybugs."

Tikki smiled. "And it was an honor to be their kwami every time."

Before Marinette's mind could wonder about the thousands of Ladybugs before her, her blazer pocket buzzed. Jolted out of her thoughts, her hand zoomed into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She tapped the answer button and held it up to her ear. "Hi, Mom."

"Hi, sweetie," Sabine greeted. "I just finished the supply run. I'll be home shortly."

"Okay, great!"

"And you're ready for tonight?"

Marinette blinked, bemused. "Tonight?"

"Nadja's covering an antique weapons auction at Le Grand Paris," Sabine explained. "You're babysitting Manon."

"Oh! Oh, yeah!" Marinette awkwardly reassured. _That's tonight!?_

"Great. Nadja's on her way with Manon. See you in a few. Love you!"

"Love you, too." Marinette ended the call. Right as she put her phone back, her hands flew to her head, a panicked squeak slipping through her teeth. "That auction is tonight!?"

"At least you don't have to appear on live television while you're supposed to be babysitting," Tikki quipped.

Marinette groaned. "I better get my stuff in safe places so Manon doesn't get to it all."

"Remember," Tikki added. "she can't be as bad as the great evil that holy warrior had to fight."

Marinette's frustration cracked, and a laugh bubbled through her lips. "Good point."

Adrien was used to his father casting him aside unless he deviated from his activities or did something that he didn't approve of. But what was so special about an antique weapons auction that the world-renowned Gabriel Agreste was blocking off a whole evening just to attend from the comfort of his home?

That question haunted Adrien throughout another dinner alone. Once he finished and confirmed with Nathalie that she would be attending the auction in his father's stead, the boy sauntered out of the dining hall, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Five fifty-seven," Adrien said to himself. "That auction's starting any minute."

He all but power walked to his room. Once he slipped past his door, he ran to the couch, leaped over onto the seat cushions, and grabbed the remote. He quickly switched on the large television.

"This is Nadja Chamack, coming to you live at Le Grand Paris for its first Histoire Transcendent Weapons Auction! Taking place inside the hotel's grand ballroom, thousands of citizens will be bidding on a collection of select weapons recovered across the world!"

"Why bother with swords when you can have a cheese auction?" Plagg floated into Adrien's view. True to the kwami, he was holding a slice of Camembert almost as big as his head. Adrien rolled his eyes, not daring to imagine the conglomerate of odors that would result from all that ancient cheese, as the camera crew followed Nadja into the grand ballroom.

He hadn't seen the room much in the times he had been there, but it certainly lived up to its name. The floor was made of marble, and the walls alternated between white and red with decorative accents. Above the massive crowd, who were seated in red, plush seats, was a chandelier that looked like crystals showering in from the ceiling, the iridescence giving the room a majestic glow. As the cameras panned over the attendees, Adrien didn't recognize many faces, except for Nathalie standing towards the front, who had a tablet turned outward so his father could see.

"I don't get it, Plagg," Adrien said. "I know we've got some ancestry to a noble family who was unmatched with the rapier. But does he care enough to try and get one of those weapons back?"

"What's your father gonna do with one of those?" Plagg asked.

"My point exactly," Adrien affirmed.

Just then, the cameras cut to Alec Cataldi as he stepped onto a platform on the other end of the ballroom, his enthusiasm blazing around him.

"Welcome to the Histoire Transcendent Weapons Auction! Tonight, we have some weapons unburied from several historical locations from across the globe! We've got a lot of amazing ones to go through, so let's bring out the first item!"

Alec threw his left arm out and a blonde woman (unmistakably a member of the hotel staff), stepped onto the platform, positioning herself just five feet from the man. Facing him, she held up the first weapon to be sold: a rapier unlike anything Adrien had seen in his life. Upright, the blade itself could have reached his knee. It was mounted on a scarlet handguard with silver filigree, and the sword as a whole commanded an elegance that rivaled Ladybug's.

 _Hmm...the hilt only goes down one side?_ Adrien observed. When he glanced over at Pagg, the cheese wedge was in his mouth, but his eyes were as wide as whole Camembert wheels.

"Plagg?" Adrien asked.

"This rapier was recovered within France itself," Alec explained. "Extensive research was conducted, and they found that this rapier was in the possession of a family of nobles from - wait for it - Rouen! Records indicate this sword is called Flambert."

A few audience members began whispering among themselves. When the camera panned to Nathalie, Adrien caught his father's face on her tablet, and he noticed a single eyebrow raised.

"Flambert, sounds familiar," Adrien mused aloud. "Plagg, are you okay?"

Plagg jolted as if his chosen had slapped his back. "Uh, yeah! Don't mind me, I'll just go back to my cheese."

Adrien shot a look at him as Alec called out for the first bid. A numbered sign flew up immediately, and it was followed by several others. Even Nathalie raised hers occasionally, and the price of Flambert skyrocketed within minutes, and it just climbed higher and higher. Eventually, the bidding lulled to a crawl when the price broke the $6,000 range. Only Gabriel and one other man were fighting for the weapon at this point.

"Six thousand, have I got seven thousand, seven thousand!?" Alec called.

It had been Gabriel who put six thousand dollars down for Flambert. At first, Adrien was confident that his father was going to bring it home, but then the other man shot his sign back up.

"Seven thousand!" Alec boomed. "Eight thousand, have I got eight thousand!?"

As Alec kept calling out for the eight thousand dollar bid, Nathalie peered down at the tablet. After a moment, much to Adrien's surprise, Gabriel shook his head.

"Going once for eight thousand, twice for twelve thousand, SOLD for eight thousand dollars to number 1127!" Alec shouted.

The employee stepped down and walked towards a door behind the platform. A moment later, another employee - a brunette man - emerged, but there was a different weapon in his hands. Adrien didn't quite know what to make of this one. It looked like a hula hoop with two rings. The outer ring was forged in brilliant silver, three blades that resembled wings giving it its sharp edge. But the inner ring was a pasticcio of bright colors, hearkening Adrien to the stained glass windows of Notre Dame.

The boy cocked his head. Alec described it as a ring blade. Adrien would have described it as something only the Lucky Charm could have come up with.

A flurry of signs arose once more, with more people in a furious frenzy to land the bid that would grant them this piece. "Going once at seventy-five thousand, twice at seventy-five thousand - SOLD at seventy-five thousand to number 615!"

The camera cut to the buyer and Adrien immediately recognized Mr. Kubdel, who smiled graciously at his victory. This weapon definitely would be a gorgeous addition to the Louvre. Adrien couldn't deny it - he wished he could see what it looked like in action, with the sunlight hitting it. All that color whirling around the battlefield...he could easily see some kind of dancer holding it.

"Next weapon!" Alec called.

The stained glass hula hoop was taken away. The blonde employee that handled Flambert returned to the platform as her co-worker exited. This time, the sword in her hands was massive, probably close to Gabriel's height. The blade only looked like it was half its original size; Adrien could see a jagged break down where the remaining blade remained. Still, he couldn't imagine being able to wrap his whole hand around what remained. The ballroom's red walls highlighted the vermillion tint around the edges of the blade, which gave the surrounding steel an unearthly aura.

Adrien wasn't sure why, but something about this sword felt...wrong.

"This bizarre sword was recovered from Ostrheinsburg Castle, just outside Germany," Alec said. "This sword may be broken, but don't let that fool you! It still can pack quite a punch. I wouldn't want to fight whoever wields this! Have I got a thousand, going for a thousand…"

Not many signs rose this time. Not surprising for a broken weapon. But then, the camera panned to Nathalie.

"Huh?" Adrien asked. "...How is a broken sword more valuable to Father than something from our family?"

"Five thousand!" Armand D'Argencourt shot out of his seat, holding his sign as high as he could.

"Five thousand, have I got six thousand, six thousand -"

"Ten thousand!"

Adrien's eyes practically bugged out of his head. So did the other attendees. Nathalie had called out the number, and her sign was held high, fierce determination in her eyes.

"What was that?" Alec called. "Ten thousand? ...O-Okay, ten thousand, looking around for eleven thousand, do I have eleven thousand?"

Adrien had no words. None. A couple thousand was one thing. _Ten_? On a mangled weapon like this?

"Going once for ten thousand! Twice for ten thousand!" Alec called out. "SOLD for ten thousand dollars to number 206!"

Nathalie looked as stoic as ever, as if she had only blown one dollar instead of ten thousand.

"That's a lot of money on a sword that wasn't able to stay intact over the years," Plagg chimed. "Your father is weird, kid."

"Yeah," Adrien concurred. He leaned back, crossing his arms and trying to think. "What about that sword is so important that Father let a family possession get away?"

Plagg shrugged. "His loss. I'm gonna get some more cheese."

That quip wasn't enough to satisfy Adrien, however. Where did Alec say that had come from again? Ost...Adrien lost it. All he could remember was that the sword had come from Germany.

Regardless, this was definitely something he wasn't going to leave his father alone about.

 ***wild laughter* That was SO much fun to write! The possibilities remain endless, so I'm looking forward to continuing on with this crossover. I hope you guys have as much fun as I am. :D**

 **I thank the ever lovely Kristine Angela Booth for being my beta for this fic. Be sure to check out her Miraculous fic,** ** _The Chat's Out of the Bag_** **. You'll be glad you did.**

 **Thank you for following** ** _Miraculous Soul_** **!**


	2. L'Enfer S'est Dechaine

**Hey guys!** **I** **don't know how many times I got wrapped around the axle with this chapter, but I think I've gotten it to a good place now.**

 **Cold-heart-Angel23 - Glad to meet a fellow SC fan! I've been playing the games since I was a very young kid, so it's a franchise that's very near and dear to my heart. :)**

 **SupergodzillaSailorCosmos - Thank you! This wasn't as quick as I anticipated it would be, but I hope this wait will be worth it for you.**

 **I don't know what it is, but this chapter feels shorter compared to the last one. But stuff will happen. So buckle up, put your tray table up, and put your seat in the full upright position, 'cause l'enfer s'est dechaine!**

 **04/10/19: I just need to put a sticky note somewhere. -_- Miraculous belongs to Thomas Astruc and Soul Calibur belongs to Project Soul and Namco. Proceed.**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

 **L'Enfer S'est Dechaine**

Adrien waited until the last sword - a katana forged from ancient Damascus steel - had gone to its new owner, and then shut the TV off and jumped up off his white sofa. Rounding the arm rest, he loped across the room and practically pounced through his door. As one of Paris' most beloved heroes, things barely surprised him anymore. However, with every step he descended came another question he wouldn't be content without an answer to.

Adrien hopped off the last step of the large staircase and zipped straight to his father's work room. Not even offering a knock, Adrien thrust the door open.

"Father," Adrien greeted coolly.

True to Gabriel, his brusque grey eyes fixated on his computer screen, his fingertips flying as he input one command after the other.

"What is it, Adrien?" Those same eyes didn't so much as flit to glance at his son, and the tone matched a little too perfectly.

The blonde brushed off his father's callousness and stepped forward, his approach slow, but still reverently cautious. "That rapier, Flambert -"

"You watched the auction," Gabriel interrupted.

"You heard what Alec said," Adrien continued. "Flambert was connected to the Sorels - our ancestors. You didn't try to buy it out from that other person?"

"I have no use for it," Gabriel replied, still not bothering to look Adrien in the eyes. "It belonged to the traitor that caused them to lose all influence they had."

 _Traitor?_ This was the first Adrien had heard anything about a traitor within the Sorel family. However, this information was but smoke in his eyes. "But a broken weapon was worth ten grand to you? It was missing half of its own blade!"

"I have need for this particular blade," Gabriel answered.

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "What need?"

"It doesn't concern you."

The words ignited embers of indignation in Adrien, and his legs started moving towards his father. How many times had he heard those words? It didn't concern him. It was for his safety. It was best for him. He stopped just before the steps leading to his father's work area, the stomp reverberating in ripples through the room.

"Father, I mean no disrespect," he started, "but I think this _does_ concern me. Nathalie just walks in and tells me you're attending a weapons auction, and I have no idea why you're going. I don't even know what drew you to this specific weapon in the first place! The way it looked? The place it came from? Ostrich Burger or whatever it's called? What about that drew you to it more than something that came from the Sorels? Our family!?"

"Adrien -" Finally, Gabriel raised his gaze to meet him, but his son wasn't done.

"Father, I don't understand you!" Adrien was on the verge of shouting now. "You need to know where I am on a 24/7 basis and I can't go anywhere without a bodyguard shadowing me, but when I want to know about you, you just turn me away and send me to go do Chinese or whatever you say is in my best interest! Can't you tell me why you wanted to go to the auction in the first place?"

All of the frustration that had built up in Adrien over the years of rolling over to this nonsense had finally come unchained. The words flew out of his mouth like prisoners finally seeing the sunlight. But as Adrien finished, ice erupted in his veins. He couldn't remember the last time he had spoken to his father in this way. And because he hadn't done that, there was no way to know how Gabriel Agreste was going to react to this.

 _This is it,_ Adrien thought. _Father's gonna pull me out of school for sure! Maybe even ground me for eternity and then I'll never see my friends again! What did I...what am I gonna -!?_

"Did you review your Chinese lesson for tomorrow?" Gabriel asked.

"Father, I...huh?" Adrien wasn't surprised to hear him ask the question, but it was still the last response that would have come to mind.

"Did you _review_ your Chinese lesson for tomorrow?" Gabriel repeated, a slight sliver of impatience in his tone.

Had Gabriel completely ignored what Adrien had just said? No harsh retaliation that threatened the life he had come to cherish? Maybe it was pushing it, but there was likely a way out...

"N-No, Father," Adrien managed.

"I will not have you falling behind in Chinese," Gabriel replied coldly. "Go review your lesson this instant."

"Y-Yes, Father!" Adrien hoped that Gabriel didn't notice his voice sneak up an octave. Trying to look as casual as possible, Adrien calmly turned around and walked away from his father.

Once he was back out in the foyer, the blonde boy released a frustrated sigh. All he had wanted to know was why _that sword_ , and instead, he was brushed aside to do Chinese. It wasn't the first time, and probably wouldn't be the last, but…

 _Is nothing ever straightforward with that man?_

Sighing once more, Adrien started up the steps to go back to his room and review the Chinese lesson. Before he even got to the steps, three soft, but audible thuds resounded from the front door. He swung his head to face it. Nathalie. She must have returned with the sword.

Maybe she would have some answers.

Adrien rushed back downstairs and opened the door, stepping to the side to let her through. Nathalie sidled through, cradling a hefty bundle of red velvet in her hands. The sword had to be wrapped in it.

"Hey, Nathalie," Adrien greeted.

"Adrien," Nathalie responded, her stoic professionalism unwavering.

Once she was fully inside, Adrien closed the door, and Nathalie started straight for Gabriel's work room. However, Adrien scuttled in front of her, causing her to abruptly pause. He was getting answers, even if it aggravated her.

"Hey, Nathalie? Did Father say anything about why he wanted to go the auction?" Adrien asked.

Nathalie stared at her boss' son for a moment.

"It's nothing to be concerned about," she said.

 _Seriously?_ Adrien thought. "Was he after a sword in particular?"

"It's related to your father's work," Nathalie pushed back. "Nothing beyond that."

 _She's not saying anything either,_ Adrien thought. _And knowing her, I've run into the wall for this conversation._ "Okay."

Adrien returned to the staircase and ascended, drifting back to his room. Before he reached for his doorknob, he glanced over at Nathalie. Lifting her elbow, she knocked against the door to Gabriel's work room. Just a minute later, the door opened, and she sidled through before it closed. Adrien narrowed his eyes, turning the knob to his room.

 _What about that sword is so important to fashion design?_ he wondered.

Nathalie glanced at the closed door behind her before turning back to Gabriel.

"Are you sure this is it?" Gabriel asked. "This is Soul Edge?"

"It was recovered from Ostrheinsburg and its shape suggests a zweihander," Nathalie assured. "I had no idea it would be in this rough of condition, but -"

"Let me see it," Gabriel interrupted.

Nathalie squatted to the ground, setting the velvet down so that she could unveil the sword with utmost care. Once the velvet had been completely removed, she lifted the blade into her hands once more. Gabriel scrutinized it carefully, tracing the broken, jagged lines with his eyes.

"To have caused this much damage to the sword, it had to have come into contact with something extremely powerful," he concluded.

"There are rumors of a counterpart of it having existed at one point," Nathalie said. "Perhaps they clashed before it found its way here."

Gabriel eyed her with a quiet indignance. "This lead you gave me better not have been a waste of time, Nathalie."

"A shred of power must remain," Nathalie countered. "It must."

Gabriel glanced between her and the sword for what felt like eons. Then, he extended his hand toward the sword and gripped the hilt tightly.

"Manon! Put those down, you'll break something with those!" Marinette pleaded.

Manon's pitched giggle filled the living room as she hopped onto the couch, her tiny hands gripping a ladle and a pot lid.

"But Marinette, I wanna grow up to be a hero like that girl!" she trilled.

Marinette sighed. All it had taken was her turning her head away for _two seconds,_ and this little terrorist from Hell had somehow gotten into the drawers and cupboards.

 _I knew I shouldn't have used my homework as a story,_ she internally groaned. _...I guess she could have grabbed a knife. Okay, Manon._ She steadied her hands and stepped forward, ready to pounce and swipe the appliances out of the toddler's hands -

The apartment door opened. The sound caught Marinette so off guard, she lurched forward, her arms flailing as she hit the floor. Propping herself up on her arms, she watched as Sabine and Nadja entered together, laughing about something. Manon's sienna eyes widened.

"Mommy!" she cried jubilantly.

"Hi, sweetie," Nadja replied. Then, she noticed her daughter's choice of toys. "...Manon, why do you have a ladle and pot lid?"

Manon giggled again, lifting the appliances.

"I'm a warrior!" she cried. "And I'm gonna fight a pirate!"

The two mothers glanced at each other, and then at Marinette, who just grimaced.

"She wanted me to tell her a story," Marinette explained. "She wanted something different than superheroes, so I just used some homework I had."

Nadja raised an eyebrow. "I guess this homework involved a warrior and a pirate?" Marinette smiles and nodded awkwardly. The reporter turned back to her daughter. "Manon, put those down. We're going home."

"Aww, already?" Manon asked, lowering the lid and ladle. "But I was just starting to have fun!" Marinette knew her ace trick was not far from her sleeve...

Nadja smiled reassuringly. "We'll go home, and you can have more fun tomorrow."

Manon just smiled and dropped the appliances before running towards her mother. Nadja promptly scooped her up, embracing her.

 _Looks like the baby doll eyes aren't coming out today,_ Marinette thought, getting to her feet.

"Thanks for watching Manon tonight, Marinette," she said. "The auction was a major success."

"Oh yeah?" Marinette asked. "That's good."

Sabine smiled softly at her friend. "I'm glad to hear things went well."

"All right, I'm gonna take her home," Nadja said. "Thanks so much again."

"Of course," Sabine replied. "Any time."

Nadja set Manon down and led her out of the apartment. Once the door was closed, Sabine turned to Marinette.

"Marinette, I thought I should tell you," she said. "Gabriel was at the auction."

Marinette's eyes bugged out of her head. "Gabriel was at the auction?"

Sabine nodded. "Well, remotely, at least. His assistant had a tablet so he could see."

"Did he buy anything?" Marinette could only wonder what would bring the revered Gabriel Agreste to attend a weapons auction.

"It sounded pretty strange. From what Nadja said, there was an old, beat up weapon there that was missing half of its blade. Gabriel bought it for ten thousand dollars."

If Marinette's jaw dropped any further, it would hit the floor. "T-t-ten thousand!? Ten _thousand_!?"

Sabine only smiled. "It was amazing to me how pristine some of them looked. These weapons went as far back as the Middle Ages."

"I wonder what the wielder had to fight for it to be missing half of itself?" Marinette asked.

Her mother shrugged. "It could have been anything. But either way, it found itself a home. Who knows, maybe Gabriel will hire someone to repair it."

Marinette considered that scenario for a moment. "...I could see it."

"I'm going to go help your father with payroll."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later, Mom."

"You really are a lot of help for Nadja. I hope you know how much she appreciates it." Sabine turned and walked out, heading back downstairs.

Marinette exhaled. Another round of babysitting survived. Somehow, Manon managed to get even more unpredictable with every visit.

"Just think, Marinette," Tikki suddenly chimed from her collar. "This will be good practice for if you and Adrien start a family someday."

The girl chuckled. "That's true." Oh, she couldn't describe how much she looked forward to that day. The big house. The three children. The cat - no, the dog. And the hamster they would name -

Marinette yawned. After her little adventure with Manon the Would-Be Holy Warrior, there was an unprecedented amount of energy drained from her mind. It was only nine thirty, but sleep didn't sound like the worst thing she could do. She climbed the stairs back to her room. Once the trap door was shut, she changed into her favorite pajamas, and then climbed the ladder to her bed. She collapsed against the mattress, asleep before her head hit the pillow.

" _ **MARINETTE!"**_

Tikki's scream ripped Marinette from sleep, and her bluebell eyes snapped open. She shot upright, her eyes trying to make sense of what was happening. Once her surroundings came into focus, she gasped sharply. The entire room was illuminated in an ice blue light that impaled through the window.

"What the-?" Marinette bolted straight over to the ladder and climbed down. It was then she saw Tikki floating in front of the window, her blue eyes so wide with horror, they were almost the size of her head.

"No," Tikki muttered, shaking her tiny head. "No, it can't be!"

"Be what?" Marinette pressed. "Tikki, what's happeni-!?"

When she glanced out, she saw it. A towering pillar of blinding light shot skyward several miles away from her, piercing through the dark clouds and dimming the street lights in comparison.

"An akuma?" Marinette stepped back, clenching her fist, her blue gaze hardening. "We better transform, quick!"

"Marinette, wait!" Tikki held out her hands. "This isn't an akuma!"

The dark-haired girl paused, taken aback. "It's _not_ an akuma?"

"It's worse! _Much_ worse!"

"S-Sabine?"

Marinette darted her head to the trap door in the middle of her room. "Papa?"

"Sabine, what are you-!?"

" _ **HRRRAAAAAAGH!"**_

A crashing noise. Her father crying out in agony, and a thud.

"PAPA!" Marinette recoiled, only sure that something bad had happened to her mother, and likely something even worse to her father. "...Tikki, spots on!"

Tikki was pulled into the earrings, and a wave of pink magic descended over the girl. Not a second later, she was garbed in a red and black spotted bodysuit and mask. Marinette Dupain-Cheng slipped into the shadows, Ladybug rising to take her place and stop this...thing.

She ran to the trap door and threw it open, jumping straight down into the main living area. What she beheld knocked the air straight out of her lungs.

Tom Dupain lay on his back, his right hand clutching his reddened shoulder, writhing on the floor with his face scrunched up in pain. Standing over him was his beloved Sabine, her skin the color of a days-old corpse, and her eyes glowing an unsettling bright red. Her teeth were ground together, feral snarls slipping through. As if to punctuate the image, a glint of steel turned Ladybug's attention to the chef's knife gripped in Sabine's hand. Blood dripped from its blade, with only slivers of its original steel color visible. Tom managed to use his good hand to prop himself up and scoot backwards, Sabine's murderous eyes locked onto him.

"Sabine," Tom beseeched. "Sabine, please-!"

" _ **DIE!"**_

She lunged towards him, knife extended. But just as her knife came within an inch of piercing his raised arm, Ladybug's yo-yo zipped across the room, coiling around her arm several times. She jerked her head to see what had seized her, and Ladybug used this moment to yank the string, sending Sabine tumbling to the floor. The knife flew out of her hand, clattering onto the wooden floor.

"Snap out of it!" Ladybug's voice edged between a command and a plea.

Sabine only looked up at the hero, growling. It seemed she had gotten even angrier now that she had been pulled away from her target. As her red eyes locked on with Ladybug's blue, Ladybug gasped. With the akumas, there was still some shred of the victim inside, but it required just a teaspoon of force to completely cleanse them of their infection. But as she beheld her own mother, Ladybug realized there was no trace of Sabine Cheng anywhere in this woman's body. She might as well have been a shell possessed by a ravenous monster.

Her free arm shot up and grabbed the yo-yo's string, and she pulled. With a strength Ladybug wasn't prepared to resist, the hero went flying across the room with a cry and her back collided with the wall.

"Argh!" Ladybug groaned as she hit the floor. _...Where did that strength come from!?_

Ladybug got on all fours just in time to see Sabine cast the yo-yo aside and scoop up the knife again. Sabine then turned back to her, snarling again.

"Maybe I'll hollow you out first!" she growled.

Instinctively, Ladybug backed up. _I need to get through to her someh-AAAH!_ Ladybug pounced out of the way as her mother pounced towards her and slammed her knife down. The blade barely missed the red and black superhero, instead burrowing into the floor. Seeing her window, Ladybug ran back to where she had been before and scooped up her yo-yo, spinning it as she often did in combat. Sabine tore the knife out of the floor and spun around to lunge at her again. Ladybug jumped to the side, rolling across the floor until her back was to a bookshelf.

 _Tikki said this wasn't an akuma_ , she thought. _Maybe if I can subdue her long enough, I can get through to her?_

She cast her yo-yo towards Sabine, only for her to slap it with the knife and deflect it to a chair. Ladybug quickly pulled her weapon back. Unfortunately, her mother was quicker. Just as she clasped her yo-yo, she felt all of Sabine's weight crash against her and the floor disappear from under her feet.

"NO! SABINE!" Tom shouted. "LADYBUG!"

Ladybug hit the ground, her gaze locked onto her mother's eyes. Sabine paid no heed to her husband's cries, and she raised her knife again. Acting instinctively, Ladybug dropped her yo-yo. She threw her arms up just in time to catch Sabine's arm. Sabine continued to push against her, the tip of the knife glinting towards Ladybug's neck.

Ladybug pushed back, whining in exertion. "Please!" she cried. "You gotta snap out of this!"

Sabine roared, pressing harder against her daughter. Ladybug yelped, applying an equal amount of force.

 _Nothing's working...Tikki, forgive me._ "...Mom," she whispered. "Mom, please…"

Sabine's murderous expression did not falter, and the knife jerked further down, now within an inch of Ladybug's neck. Frustrated, Sabine snarled again, and brought her arm upward. Ladybug rolled the top of half of her body to the side. She stiffened as she felt the blade cleave the air behind her just narrowly. And then she saw it. Her yo-yo. She swept it up in her fingers.

 _I didn't want to do this...but you've left me no choice!_

She swung her arm as hard as she could, her elbow slamming into Sabine's cheek. Caught off guard, she howled viciously, letting up just enough for Ladybug to wriggle out from underneath her and jump back.

 _She's relentless,_ Ladybug noted. _She won't stop until Papa and I are both dead. I gotta do something, fast!_ "Lucky Charm!"

She cast her yo-yo skyward. Pink magic swirled around it and flashed before evaporating. Before she could get a good look at what object had been bestowed to her, she saw the flash of the knife coming straight for her. She leaped to the side again, somersaulting onto her feet. She barely had enough room to check out the Lucky Charm.

"A top hat!?" Why, _why_ , did the Lucky Charm need to be random at this time!? Sabine charged at her again. This time, Ladybug backflipped in rapid succession until she landed on the other side of the coffee table. If she could just figure out what to do with this stupid hat…

Sabine glared at her, her snarl losing all trace of humanity that might have been in there. She howled as she charged, her knife lunging towards Ladybug again. But the hero was ready for her this time. As the weapon sped towards her, she shot her arms upward. The blade plunged into the hat, piercing through the soft, but stiff fibers. Sabine's eyes widened, and she froze. Ladybug used this to her advantage, thrusting her arms to the side and casting the top hat to the side, the knife going with it. Sabine, however, remained undeterred, roaring with anger as she leapt to wrestle her back to the ground.

Ladybug managed to seize her shoulders. The next thing she heard was a loud _crack_.

When she blinked, Sabine Cheng had hit the floor, groaning as her eyes fell closed. Ladybug's eyes widened.

"L-Ladybug?" Tom managed.

 _Wait...did I…?_ Her eyes darted over to the coffee table and she gasped. Though it was only a tiny amount, there was definitely some blood on the coffee table's surface. Ladybug hadn't meant to shed a drop of blood during the scuffle; just subdue Sabine somehow. _Oh no, no no no no! NO!_

She knelt down next to her mother, quickly pressing two fingers to her neck. Her heart crashed against her ribcage. No. No. She couldn't...she couldn't have-

A throbbing under her fingers. Ladybug released a heavy exhale. _Hallelujah._ She stood, turning over to Tom and hurrying over to his side.

"She's fine," she promised as she knelt next to her father. "I guess I just managed to knock her out. Let me look at your shoulder."

Based on the amount of blood on the chef's knife, she knew Sabine had to have stabbed him deep. It wasn't until Tom took his hand off his shoulder she realized just how deep. His shoulder had turned completely red, soaking through the sleeve of his sky blue T-shirt and flowing in bloody rivulets down his arm.

"Can you move that arm?" she asked.

"Y-yes," Tom managed. "It just -" He hissed. "...Really hurts."

"I know, I know," Ladybug soothingly assured. "I'm gonna take care of you. Just hold on." She quickly looked around; there had to be something she could use to keep the blood flow contained until a hospital could tend to him. Fortunately, it didn't take long to find it: a single pink dish towel hanging over the oven handlebar. Ladybug had grabbed it and was back over to Tom as fast as a crack of lighting.

"Here." She pressed the towel to his wound. The gesture was met with a wince. "I know, I'm sorry."

Up until she had been given the earrings, it had always been Tom and Sabine who would protect her and heal her wounds every time she scraped her knee or had disappointment thrown in her face. She lowered her head. No. Tom couldn't see her like this. Not now. Not when his wife and mother to his daughter just tried to kill them both.

"Just keep that pressed to your shoulder, okay?" Ladybug said.

"Ladybug, listen," Tom said. "I don't know what Hawk Moth's done this time, but...something about these akumas is different."

"In what way?" Ladybug asked.

"My wife and I had come upstairs to do some last minute housework before we went to bed," he explained. "She had gone into the kitchen to do some dishes and I was sprucing up the living area. The next thing I knew, I turned around and she came at me with a knife in her hands - ack!" Tom grimaced as he held the towel to his wound. Just then, Ladybug heard the first beep from her earrings ring out.

 _I need to finish this up quick,_ she thought. "What else can you tell me?"

"You know how when Hawk Moth akumatizes someone, you sometimes see a purple butterfly over their face?" Ladybug nodded. "I never saw one. Plus, she never changed." The hero turned her head to face her unconscious mother.

 _Come to think of it...she doesn't look like anything changed besides her eyes and behavior._

"It was like a switch had flipped," Tom finished.

"Well, you're safe now," Ladybug promised. "But we need to get you to a hospital, quickly, and get your arm looked at." The second beep rang out. _Emphasis on quickly!_

"Wait," Tom managed. "My daughter...Marinette, is she-?"

"She's safe. I got her somewhere where your wife couldn't reach her. I'll get you to a hospital and bring her to you, okay?"

"You're gonna change back in three minutes," Tom observed. "I can call an ambulance, go find Marinette and bring her to the hospital."

Ladybug glanced over at Sabine. "I don't want to leave you alone." The third beep sounded.

"I'll wait downstairs," Tom promised. "I'll lock the doors behind me. I'll be alright, Ladybug. You focus on what you need to do. There might be more people that need your help."

Ladybug looked over Tom's wound one more time. Would he be able to hold on until paramedics got there? The wound was deep. But her father was equally stubborn...

She raced into the nearest bathroom and grabbed two towels hanging off the rack. Coming back with them, she ripped the bloodied dish towel off of his wound and wrapped one of the bigger towels around his shoulder.

"This should contain the bleeding for now," Ladybug said as she pulled the towel to lock it in place. "Take this one just in case." She handed him the second towel.

Tom smiled at her warmly. "Thank you for saving me. I don't know what happened to Sabine, but I know you'll get her back to normal."

 _How can I know for sure if I will?_ She wondered. _Tikki said this wasn't an akuma. What if-?_ The fourth beep cut her off.

"I will," she said quickly. "I promise. Call the paramedics. Can you stand?"

Tom pushed himself to his feet on his good arm. "I'll be fine, Ladybug. Go, do what you need to do."

Ladybug smiled at him, and then stood in the living room as she waited for Tom to fully leave the room, so not to risk Sabine awakening and attacking him before she knew he was safe. The door clicked right on time, just as the fifth beep was sounding. Ladybug rushed back up to the attic and slammed the hatch shut in time for her transformation to fall. Tikki spiraled out of the earrings, falling towards the floor, but Marinette managed to catch her in her palm before she could touch it.

"Papa," Marinette whispered despairingly.

"Marinette, listen to me," Tikki weakly urged. "What you just had to fight...we need to see Master Fu as soon as I get my strength back."

"He knows what this is?" Marinette asked.

Tikki nodded.

"Okay," Marinette said. "Hang on, Tikki." She crossed over to her desk. Her bag was hooked on her chair, containing a cookie Marinette kept for times like these. She bent over, separated the clasp, and gave her kwami the treat. Tikki had taken her first bite when an inhuman wail caught Marinette's ear. She stood straight back up and ran to examine the situation through her window.

Her eyes grew the size of spinning wheels. The once peaceful streets of the 21st adronnissant had erupted into pandemonium, with men, women, and children all running about, trying to flee from what Marinette could only describe as horror incarnate. She had seen akumas take on a variety of shapes. But these were...Marinette could see that these things were, at one point, human. And like her mother before them, their eyes all glowed the same malicious red. Some of them also had similar markings on their bodies that glowed the same red. Others were hideously disfigured, with their bodies twisted into a monstrous, crustacean appearance.

A shout pierced her eardrums, and a shadowed figure landed with a loud, metallic clank. Under the street lights, the shape took form and a light illuminated its face. Immediately, one of the severely infected turned to face him, and greeted the newcomer by swiping its grotesque, elongated arm at him. The figure retaliated by swiping a shaft at it, colliding with its face. The creature barely flinched.

Marinette's blood froze. "Tikki, hurry! Chat Noir's taking all these things on by himself!"

* * *

 **I KNOW, I KNOW, I'M SORRY TOM X SABINE FANS. ...Okay, not really. Writing a malfested Sabine was a LOT of fun. XD I wonder if she'll get akumatized at some point. It's bound to happen.**

 **Hey, here's an interesting question for you all. Would you rather be malfested or akumatized? Be sure to leave a review before you go and let me hear your thoughts!**

 **Shoutout to Kristine Angela Booth, my dark angel beta reader. She has some Miraculous fics on her page, so be sure to give those a read as well!**

 **Thank you for reading _Miraculous Soul,_ and see you next chapter!**


	3. Massacre

**Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another chapter of** ** _Miraculous Soul!_** **Holy freaking...I kid you not when I say I rewrote this chapter seven times before I got it to where it is. Seven. Times. ...At least I know Kore Yamazaki had to do the same with the first chapter of** ** _The Ancient Magus' Bride_** **. Trying to find a balance between the two canons is truly a challenge. I don't know how all you crossover writers do this! But, you know, I'm happy with this chapter. So was Kristine Angela Booth. I hope you all are too, 'cause I know I've made you guys wait a bit.**

 **Now buckle up, put your tray table up, and put your seat up in the full upright position, 'cause here comes** ** _Massacre_** **!**

 **Miraculous belongs to Thomas Astruc and Soul Calibur belongs to Project Soul and Namco.**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

 **Massacre**

Marinette's terrified blue eyes darted back and forth between Tikki and the ensuing battle just outside her window. She knew her kwami was chewing as fast as she could, especially now that she knew Chat Noir was here. Still, Tikki couldn't down that cookie fast enough.

Through the glass, she saw Chat Noir continue to hold the line against the creatures, his body cleaving through the space in a martial dance, his staff flying wildly. But with each one he managed to knock to the pavement, he caught the attention of another one and it came rushing towards him. Marinette knew he could hold his own against them...but for how long?

"Tikki," Marinette pressed.

As if responding to her, Tikki shoved the last of the macaron in her mouth. Once she swallowed it, she cast a glance at Marinette.

"Listen to me, Marinette," the kwami gently commanded. "Once you help Chat Noir, _do not_ use your Miraculous Ladybug power."

Marinette pitched back, stunned. "Huh!? Why!?"

"I'll explain later, we've got to get down there!" Tikki urged.

Marinette knew she was right. Chat Noir could only hold them off for so long. But to not use her power to restore Paris? Did Tikki mean any damage done by this thing was irreparable? If that was the case, then...Sabine...no. No. She couldn't be stuck like this!

" _Marinette_!" Tikki shouted.

The girl snapped back into the present. "R-Right," she said. "Tikki, Spots On!"

Ladybug jumped up onto the bed and out through the hatch, but when her feet planted on the balcony, she made the tragic mistake of glancing out into Paris. When she beheld her beloved city, the sight about knocked her back onto the roof. The air was polluted with pitch-black smoke, like sewage in water. The only lights that illuminated the city were multiple infernos that voraciously burned through building after building after building. The shapes of citizens flew through the streets, running across a river of blood and stumbling across more silhouettes that lay floating in the reddened asphalt. Their screams drilled into her eardrums, gnawing at her mind like a swarm of angry centipedes.

Paris had been known as the City of Lights and the City of Love all her life. But on this night, it adopted a third name: The City of Carnage.

 _What the…?_ None one of the akumas she and Chat Noir had battled before had ever produced this level of -

 _Chat Noir!_ she suddenly remembered. _Chat Noir needs me!_

She vaulted off to the right, yo-yo already in hand. Her feet had just barely touched the ground when someone came at her, a hysterical wolf howling for blood. Ladybug didn't have time to process who it was before her arm swung sideways, knocking them to the ground. However, she hadn't made two steps before she found herself slammed into the sidewalk, her ribs protesting against at least two hundred pounds.

 _Wha-!?_ Ladybug looked upward, trying to see who had pinned her down.

" _Grr...blood...give it to me! GIVE IT TO ME!"_

When she saw her assailant's face, her bravado drained with the color in her face.

 _I...Ivan!?_

Her eyes darted away from him for just a second and found a long, jagged, sharp looking piece of metal clenched in his hand. Just as it registered though, it swooped towards her neck, an eagle descending towards a mouse. Ladybug inhaled to scream.

"LADYBUG!"

Ivan suddenly went flying back with a loud _clank._ The next thing Ladybug could process was that she was back on the rooftops, her legs heavy and an arm holding her up. She blinked, trying to regain her bearings.

"Milady, are you oka - ngh!"

Her eyes turned next to her and saw a black form sinking to his knees, his fist pressed tightly against his chest.

"Chat?" she asked.

"My...my chest," Chat Noir managed. "Ugh…"

"Chat? Are you okay!?" Ladybug pressed, kneeling to his side.

Chat Noir forced out two...three...four pained exhalations before finally sighing. His green eyes locked with hers.

"One of them probably got me," Chat Noir managed. "I'll be fine."

Ladybug blinked. That did make sense, but a single punch did that? Of course, Tikki said this wasn't an akuma. Who knew what was happening? "Wh-What's going on? Did you see anything?"

Something flashed across Chat Noir's face, but it dimmed before Ladybug could name the emotion. "I had been out patrolling. I was close to the Agreste mansion. I had gotten two buildings away and then…" He paused, as if fighting the words to come out. "...There was an explosion."

Ladybug's whole body went numb. _Explosion...explosion…_

"I was able to get the Agreste kid somewhere safe, but I don't know what happened to everyone else inside the house," Chat Noir continued. "All I could really see was someone walking out with a staff."

Ladybug blinked. "A staff?"

"Probably as big as I am," Chat Noir clarified.

 _Someone walks out of an exploding mansion with a staff,_ Ladybug processed. _Tikki, what_ _ **is**_ _this thing?_

"Can you stand?" she asked.

Chat Noir nodded, lowering his fist and hoisting himself to his feet with minimal problem. "We're gonna need all hands on deck for this." Ladybug's usual assertiveness suddenly returned to her voice. "Find Chloe and get her somewhere safe until I can give her the Miraculous. I'll go find Al- uh, Rena Rouge and Carapace. Save any citizens you can!"

Before Chat Noir could tell her to consider it done, Ladybug had vaulted away. _Alya, Nino...please be safe!_

Nino's back slid across the sidewalk, the asphalt scraping his skin through the fibers in his shirt.

" _NINO!"_ Alya shrieked. The boy groaned, managing to prop himself up on his elbows. _That_ hurt. Looking ahead, André Glacier stood hunched over, teeth bared like a polar bear that had found an unlucky seal, marks around his face and his eyes glowing bright red. Glaciator was terrifying. Every akuma was in their own right. But André didn't even look like the same man, even without the ice cream snowman facade. One minute, Nino had been walking Alya back to her apartment after they had gotten themselves some of his ice cream. The next, the sound of an explosion had ripped through their eardrums, and Paris was on fire with corpses around every bend. The minute after that, André had caught up with them, a red-eyed, hideously disfigured, even more muscular golem out for blood. Instinctively, Nino grabbed a trash can lid - he may not have had the Turtle Miraculous on him, but there was no way on earth he was going down without a fight.

For a while, he could hold his own against punches, even if he slid back a few inches. Then André got the idea to his swing his arm, and then it wasn't just Nino that went flying; the trash can lid whirled into the Siene below.

Alya beelined for Nino.

"Nrgh…" André growled. His ravenous eyes remained fixed on the young couple. "You maggots squirm too much!"

"What akuma got into you, dude!?" Nino asked.

" _SHUT UP!"_ André roared. He charged them with a speed that would put a lion to shame. By the time Alya pulled Nino to his feet to run, Andre had ensnared them both in his fists with bone crushing force. Nino felt his feet fly off the ground as he was hoisted upward; it was happening too fast for his brain to comprehend _get away._ Then, air enveloped his body, the sky pulling further away as he came down -

"Urk!" André suddenly tensed before his fists slid open, causing Nino and Alya to slide out and drop to the ground below. The DJ darted his head to the side, and smiled once he saw who had saved them.

"Not gonna happen!" Ladybug declared. Her yo-yo wrapped snugly around the ice cream maker-turned-beast, she pulled with as much strength as she could muster. André jerked back towards the lamppost she squatted on. In retaliation, he turned sharply, violently pulling her to him.

"So annoying!" he roared.

Ladybug somehow managed to pull the yo-yo back towards her, regaining her bearings and landing on her feet. _If I can just get him away from Alya and Nino long enough...I need to get them up to date with what I know is happening -_ "UWAGH!" She was violently pulled off the asphalt and she arched over Andre before crashing in front of Alya and Nino. Maintaining her grip on her yo-yo, Ladybug flipped onto her back long enough to see Andre had gripped the string so tightly, the white of his knuckles managed to glow against the red all around them. Before the hero in red and black could retaliate, she felt herself pulled off the ground again, rocketing back towards where she had been before. However, as she flew over his head, she looked out.

 _A lamp post!_

The yo-yo uncoiled from around Andre and snapped back into Ladybug's hand quickly. She thrust it outward, allowing her weapon to coil around the lamp post. Like an animal swinging through vines, she swung towards Alya and Nino.

"Grab on!" she yelled.

Just a second later, she felt heaviness clamp around her waist, which did not deter her upward soaring. Though Andre's enraged roar reached her ears, it faded as she continued to fly up towards the roof of a nearby building - one she knew had no rooftop access. Her feet hit the roof, and the two teens released her, circling to face her.

"Thank. Goodness. You got here in time, what kind of akuma is that!?" Alya shot her arm back towards where they had just been.

"I mean, I've seen akumas do some pretty messed up stuff, but there are bodies all over the streets, dude!" Nino chimed.

"This isn't one of them," Ladybug explained.

"Huh?" Alya and Nino chorused.

"My kwami told me this wasn't an akuma."

"Then, what is it?" Alya asked.

"Still trying to figure that out. There are still a lot of citizens in danger, but Chat Noir and I can't save them alone. I still need to get your Miraculouses, but I wanted to make sure you two were safe."

Nino smiled. "Well, with you dudes here, we're safer than we were a second ago."

"Any idea where the survivors went?"

"You didn't hear about the evacuation?" Alya asked. "The minute bodies started dropping, Mayor Bourgeois ordered a mass evacuation, so they could be spread out anywhere."

 _A mass evacuation...did Papa hear about it?_ Ladybug wondered. "Chat Noir is trying to find Chloe so we can get Queen Bee's help. There's no roof access up here, so you should be safe. Wait for me here until I come back with the Miraculouses."

Alya flashed the superhero a thumbs up. "You got it, Ladybug."

Leaping off of the roof, Ladybug landed on the one next door, running faster than she could have ever envisioned in her life. Now that she knew Alya and Nino could hold out for a while, Master Fu was the next priority. But just to make sure, she slid the yo-yo upward, calling for Chat Noir.

"Ngh...ugh." A pained groan trickled through the speaker.

"C-Chat Noir!?" Ladybug called, jumping onto another building.

"M-Milady," Chat Noir managed. "Don't bother with the Bee Miraculous."

"What do you mean?" Ladybug asked. "Don't tell me she's-!"

"Worse. I found her on the roof of the hotel. When I landed in front of her to check on her, she came at me. There was blood all over her, there was a knife in her hands, a-and her eyes were glowing red!"

 _Glowing red...oh. Oh no, Chloe…_ "Are you safe?" Ladybug pressed, the Siene finally within her vision.

"I managed to knock her out, but I think her...her parents were with her when she went berserk." Ladybug's whole body went numb.

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

"Just my chest again. Did you find Rena Rouge and Carapace?" Chat Noir asked.

"T-They're safe," Ladybug confirmed. "I'm getting their Miraculouses. Where are you now?"

"Still here. Where should I meet you three?"

"By the time I get back, Rena and Carapace will be good to go. They're at the Trissandris Apartments. Start heading over there!"

"On it." A click, and Chat Noir was gone.

Ladybug tried to avert her gaze from the bridge below. The Miraculouses were a top priority right now. Even still, her eyes betrayed her now and then, and she would behold the once glorious bridge, decorated with gouged and perforated corpses. The Siene burned under the glow of the inferno, and she swore she could see dark shapes floating in the reddened water...shapes that looked too human for her comfort. With how high above she was, their faces were indiscernible. Still, she moved. She couldn't look. She didn't dare look below, lest someone she knew be one of the slaughtered. All she could hope was that whatever had come over the citizens of Paris hadn't taken over Fu too.

As she sailed across the sky, her mind flashed over to her mother and father. Once a loving couple of twenty years, now a predator and prey.

 _Papa...please be okay,_ Ladybug thought to herself.

Once she landed on the other side, she heard footsteps fast approaching her. More infected. People she didn't recognize, but nonetheless forgiveness she hoped for when her fist and heel sent them into the asphalt. Grabbing her yo-yo, she spun it quickly, dashing across the street and all but diving into the massage shop. She threw the lock behind her, securing the area for now.

"Spots off." Tikki hadn't even materialized outside the earrings before Marinette charged up the stairs two at a time. _This may not be an akuma, but does Hawk Moth have something to do with this?_

The dark-haired girl finally got to the top of the stairs, her hand shoved the door open.

"Master Fu!" she cried. "I need - huh?"

 _Praise God_ Fu was unharmed, and it looked like no one had even thought to come up here yet. However, Wayzz was not at attention beside the Guardian as usual. Instead, he was sprawled out across the mat, Fu's hands hovering above him as his lips moved in methodical fashion, shaping a chant.

Marinette knew all too well what was going on. Slamming the door behind her, she scrambled to Fu's side.

"Oh no." Tikki's hands came to her mouth.

"Master," Marinette said.

Fu broke focus for a moment, glancing over at her. Relief flooded his eyes.

"Marinette!" he exclaimed. "You're all right!"

"Looks like you are too." Marinette gave him a brief, relieved smile, but it faltered when her eyes flickered to the green kwami. "Is Wayzz okay?"

"When this Evil Seed appeared, he just collapsed and hasn't responded at all," Fu explained.

"Evil Seed?" Marinette asked.

"I finally found the spell to heal him, but it's going to take time," Fu said. Okay. Carapace was officially out of the picture.

"Any chance I can take the Fox Miraculous?" Marinette asked.

"Take the Fox and Bee Miraculouses," Fu said. "You'll need as much help as you can get with this threat. Are Chat Noir and the others safe?"

"I left Rena Rouge and Carapace on a building without roof access," Marinette explained. "Unless they can climb, they should be safe, and even then, Chat Noir is on his way to them, but Chloé is…" She swallowed, reflecting over what Chat Noir told her.

" _There was blood all over her… I think her...her parents were with her when she went berserk."_

Fu sighed. "You're down two heroes, but we can't just sit idly." He stood up and turned to the gramophone, pressing the dragon eyes and entering the code to open it. As the various panels opened, he glanced over at Marinette.

"Take the Fox Miraculous and go," Fu ordered. "The second I can heal Wayzz, I'll come help you."

"Are you gonna be okay?" Marinette asked.

"I will," Fu assured, taking the box out and opening it for her. Marinette plucked the necklace out of the box and looked over at Wayzz one more time. How was this "Evil Seed", as the Guardian called it, so powerful that it knocked a kwami completely out of commission? And if it was capable of _that,_ what else could it do? She didn't have time to think. Paris didn't have time to wait for an answer. She transformed, tucked the Fox Miraculous in her yo-yo, and leaped back into the pandemonium through the side double doors.

The destruction around her raged on, but Ladybug's thoughts whirled at a thousand miles per hour. With Wayzz down, what were they to do with Nino? No, no, it was too soon. They could work something out as soon as she got back there. She landed on the roof, her face somber as she approached.

"You're back!" Alya exclaimed.

"All right, we can get going now!" Nino chimed.

"Nino, I'm...afraid I have some bad news," Ladybug said. "Whatever is causing this put Wayzz out of commission. He won't be able to help us right now."

Alya's and Nino's faces both fell hard. "Out of commission?" Nino asked.

"I'll explain later." Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo and took out the box containing the Fox Miraculous. "We've gotta get you out of here."

Alya took the box out of the hero's hands, quickly opening it.

"Huh?" Alya suddenly asked. Once Ladybug glanced over, she saw what Alya was confused about.

 _Where's Trixx?_

Regardless, Alya slid the necklace onto her neck. "Trixx, Let's Pounce!" she cried out.

Nothing. Only the sound of crackling infernos and crunching stone. Alya stared down at the necklace.

"Uh, shouldn't a transformation be happening right now?" Nino asked.

"Should be," Alya confirmed. "Trixx, Let's Pounce!"

No light. No kwami. No Rena Rouge.

"Uh, Trixx?" Alya called. "You in there!? Hello!?"

 _No!_ Ladybug thought despairingly. _It must have gotten to him too!_

A loud clop arrested the three teens' attention.

"Looks like you've gone company," Chat Noir observed, getting to his feet and walking over. "But where are Rena Rouge and Carapace?"

Ladybug thought fast. "They got swamped on the way over here. They said they were gonna try and save as many people as they could." She turned back to Alya and Nino. "And we need to get these two out, fast."

"What about the sewers?" Chat Noir suggested. "Unless there are any sanitation workers down there, it should be safe to move them through."

That was true; they had to use the sewers in many an akuma fight, and it was usually to their pertinence.

"Okay." Ladybug nodded. "We'll need to find a manhole that we can get them into without attracting attention."

"Hey, didn't you mention that Chlo- er, Queen Bee was supposed to be coming?" Nino asked. "Where is she?"

"She got, uh, infected," Chat Noir said. "We're gonna need to move without her. Nino, grab onto me. I'll lower you down."

Ladybug extended a hand towards Alya, who accepted it without hesitation. While Chat Noir and Nino lowered themselves into an alley the way firefighters descended to their trucks, Ladybug cast her yo-yo to wrap around an antenna on adjoining roof, and gently swung herself and Alya down. Fortunately, they didn't need to look far for a manhole cover. Nino had just slid it over when a low growl reached their ears. Ladybug shot her eyes towards the entrance into the alley, where a hunched over, now infected Clara Nightingale stood, a wicked grin on her face, a knife in her hands, and her eyes fixed on the teens.

" _Go!_ " Alya urged. She jumped down onto the ladder below, Nino following quickly behind her. Chat Noir stepped forward, staff at the ready.

"I'll catch up," Chat Noir encouraged. "Go!"

Ladybug was about to object when Clara gripped the knife in her hand tighter and charged, howling. Chat Noir pounced forward, and Ladybug leaped down the manhole. When her feet hit the ground, Nino and Alya were waiting for her.

"Okay, is there a rendezvous point you need to get to?" Ladybug asked.

"Ladybug, we can take it from here," Alya assured.

"What!? I'm not leaving you two alone down here alone!"

"There are thousands of people who still need help up there, dude," Nino pointed out. "...It's quiet down here. Alya and I should be safe."

It _was_ silent in the sewers...Ladybug's face contorted in agony for the briefest of moments. However, her fists eventually clenched and she faced her best friend and her boyfriend.

"Please be careful." She tried so hard to hide the quiver in her words. Their smiles betrayed she didn't hide it well.

"We got this, Ladybug."

The hero nodded and scrambled back up the ladder. The manhole cover blew off, and Ladybug surfaced just in time to see Clara hit the ground, motionless. Chat Noir turned around to meet his partner's eyes.

"Back so soon?" he asked.

"They went on ahead," Ladybug replied. "There are other citizens that need our help. We need to-!?"

Chat Noir groaned again, his fingers contorting into a fist around his suit. His knees buckled, and he sank to the ground, panting forcefully.

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug crouched down to her partner once more.

"Something's...close," he managed.

"What?" Ladybug asked.

"Ladybug...we need to... move," Chat Noir urged.

"Chat Noir, what's close?"

As if answering the question for her, a shadow cloaked her and Chat Noir. Darting her head upward, a figure stood in the entrance, swathed in darkness. Her eyes traced a towering human shape, but its right arm - Heaven help her, _its right arm._ It was colossal in size, the flesh twisted, distorted, and grotesque, ending with a three-clawed hand that could crush her in a brief squeeze. Even if Ladybug couldn't see its face, there was no denying one thing. The silhouette was a beacon of evil, emanating it with every breath.

"Souls…" the shape growled.

Her hero instincts kicking into overdrive, Ladybug jumped to her feet, spinning her yo-yo. But once its glowing red eyes locked with hers, her hands began to shake.

"Need...more souls," it snarled. Reflexively, Ladybug stepped back. Ice spread across her chest. Nothing she had encountered had ever been this...diabolical. Her eyes darted between the walls.

 _Fight? Or get Chat Noir out and try to save the citizens?_

Suddenly, the shape puffed out its chest. It spread its arms outward, causing Ladybug to catch another shape in its normal hand. It looked like a large staff forged from steel and human flesh. A suspicious orb topped the cane. It wasn't until he curled into himself that it shifted. Before Ladybug could fully process what was happening, she felt her feet wrench off the ground, her body flying towards the figure. The concrete dug into her palms and knees as she skidded in front of him. She scrambled to her knees, trying to get a look at the new threat.

The first thing that leaped out at her was a pair of glowing red eyes. But they weren't like those she had encountered earlier; no, these eyes had been completely painted in red light. The details of his armor paled against them, but it was molded well to his body - yes, it was definitely a man standing before her - and colored a deep azure. Ridges across the breastplate, single gauntlet, fauld, and boots all traced a shape that felt unusual, but nonetheless familiar…

And then she saw his helmet. The single spike protruding out did not distract her from the shape she knew too well.

A glowing, red butterfly.

 _Wha-!?_ Ladybug scrambled backward. He responded by walking to her, pressing the tip of the cane to her throat. She grabbed it, trying to push it away. That was, until the sphere at the top shifted once more...opening up a giant, violet eye. It locked its sinister gaze onto the hero. Immediately, Ladybug's legs turned to stone, her eyes locked with the top of the staff like she was staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.

"...Yes," the voice exhaled. "Your soul...you shall make a _fine_ sacrifice!"

 _Sacrifice?_ Ladybug asked. He raised his cane, and her arm was up before she realized what was happening. _Wait - NO!_

Salvation came in the form of a loud _CLANK,_ knocking the shape to the ground and the blade away from her.

"Ladybug!" an older, very familiar voice cried out.

She looked up to the building to see another figure standing on its roof, catching the disc in his hand.

"Go help the citizens!" he shouted, putting it on his head. "I'll deal with him!"

"But-!"

" _Go_!" The figure jumped down.

"Ladybug," Chat Noir managed. "He's right. We can't just leave everyone."

The armored man stood up, looking to where the disc had flown from. At the same time, Chat Noir staggered to his feet, grabbing his partner's arm. "We've stalled long enough - we need to move. _Now_ ," he said.

Chat Noir was right. There were still people dying out here, and they were getting absolutely nowhere by being here. But there was one thing Ladybug couldn't deny: _this guy_ was the source of all of this carnage.

When her savior hit the ground, Ladybug threw one last glance at him as her yo-yo flew skyward.

 _Please be careful...Master._

Two heroes were enough to take on a single akuma. They had even single-handedly freed half of Paris from the grip of a Scarlet Hawk Moth. But two heroes weren't enough for this.

By first light, Paris, once a prosperous city of love and light, had burned into a hollowed husk of its former self in the course of ten hours. The air had greyed with smoke and pollution. Mutilated corpses lined the streets like Paris' once fertile gardens' flowers. The greenery had turned to black, which crumbled to ash at even the lightest of grazes. No matter where someone looked, all that could be seen were the shattered and crumbled bones of towering landmarks and hotspots the locals often flocked to, all spattered in red. Even the Eiffel Tower hadn't been spared, resting in mangled pieces where it once stood tall and proud. The glossy windows of shops and homes had been smashed and shattered beyond repair. But most glaring of all was the absence of life, save for those who had bravely (or perhaps stupidly) returned to count the dead.

They weren't alone, in some respects. On the rooftops remained two beacons of hope, ironically clad in red and in black. But hope had been replaced with grimness as they overlooked the ruins of the place they were chosen to protect. After ten hours of fighting, digging, sifting, and rescuing, the two of them managed to get twenty-five percent of the population out.

But even that silver lining was dyed in a single, black truth. This wasn't a pyrrhic victory.

They had failed.

* * *

 **And that's it! I admit, I'm still a little shaky on the ending, but I'm still happy with how it turned out. Also, I have a minigame. I hid a ship name somewhere in this chapter. Can you find it?**

 **Thanks to all of you who waited patiently for this chapter! I'm hopeful that I won't have to make you wait this long again. Special thanks to Kristine Angela Booth for wading through these treacherous waters.**

 **Thank you for following** ** _Miraculous Soul!_**


	4. Aftermath

**Hello, Miraculers and Soul Calibur fans! (Do we have a cool nickname? Let me know in a review!) Welcome back to a long overdue chapter of** ** _Miraculous Soul_** **; so sorry to keep you all waiting! Although, with the way things ended in Season 3, there was a certain therapy that came with writing this. Am I crazy for it? Yes? Eh.**

 **So, I originally intended to get everything laid out this chapter, but considering what happened the chapter before, I felt it important that how an event like that would be dealt with would be seen. That said, with a few characters that will be confirmed deceased, I'm definitely thinking I'll have a target on my head. Well, it was fun while it lasted.**

 **Okay, enough rambling. Buckle up, put your tray table up, and put your seat in the full upright position, 'cause our destination is** ** _Aftermath!_**

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

 **Aftermath**

 _...How?_ Ladybug wondered, tearing her gaze away from her palms. ... _How did this happen?_

The citizens that managed to make it through the night flocked to Rouen, about an hour away from Paris. Though there had been reports of people seeming to lose their minds, the destruction was nowhere near as devastating as Paris. Once first light hit and the fires that engulfed the city had been put out, the two heroes followed the citizens to ensure no further casualties among them. After a return trip with some volunteers to find more people, they both returned to Rouen with mostly bad news.

The image of the hell she once called Paris caused tears to burn her eyes. Though the night was over, the aftermath remained, with bloodied children crying out for their parents, injured husbands desperately calling for their wives, and widows weeping over the bodies of their spouses. No matter where Ladybug looked, there was no sliver of yesterday to be found. In Miss Bustier's class, she had learned about many massacres that occurred within France's borders - massacres that claimed as many as forty-thousand lives. Ladybug always knew Paris' streets were no stranger to bloodshed. But for her, Paris had always been a great city where the sun was restless, the skies were a perpetual blue, and everywhere she looked was an explosion of life and color. Every day had been more incredible than the last, inspiration around every corner.

Whether they were storm clouds or it was a layer of smoke hanging over them now, she couldn't tell. All she knew was that there was no sun. No life. No color. Everything - _everyone -_

Ladybug shut her eyes. How many bodies had she and Chat Noir pulled out over the last ten hours? How many more lay under the rubble?

"Ladybug?"

Chat Noir's voice called her away from her thoughts.

"Are you…?" he trailed off, as if catching himself on the question.

She didn't dare answer that. She didn't want to look at the new reality she had to live, that the citizens she fought so hard to save had to live the way they did now. But their fear sunken eyes followed her gaze like rats to a corpse.

 _What...What happened to Hawk Moth?_ Ladybug wondered.

"Do you know if your family made it?" Chat Noir asked.

"My-." Ladybug caught herself. Even under these circumstances, they still couldn't know anything. "I think someone in my family is here."

"Go see them," Chat Noir encouraged. "They should at least know you made it."

"What about you?" Ladybug asked.

For a second, she swore she saw something glint in his peridot eyes, but Chat Noir looked away before she could identify it.

"...I still need to find mine," he finally said.

The words were a lance to Ladybug's heart. The last thing she wanted was for her partner to go looking for them when the very grim possibility was still out there that none of them made it to Rouen. But Chat Noir was right. She hadn't seen Tom since she left him at the bakery. She didn't know if he had even made it to the hospital. She had already lost her beloved mother; she _could not_ lose her father too.

"I'll meet you later," Ladybug promised. Dropping from the rooftop she and Chat Noir stood on, she retreated into an empty, dark corner below.

"Spots Off." Her magic falling around her, Marinette's legs caved, and she hit the pavement.

"Marinette." Tikki sadly floated over to her master, placing a hand on Marinette's cheek.

"I...I hope Papa made it." Marinette's voice was heavy. "Tikki...how did we let this-?"

"It wasn't your fault, Marinette," Tikki replied. "You couldn't have known."

"You said Master Fu knew what this was?"

"Yeah. But you should find your dad first."

Marinette nodded. "Once we know he made it, we should find Chat Noir again and find Master Fu." _I really hope he made it out of that fight. Papa...what if he didn't…?_

Pushing that thought back into the darkened recesses of her mind, the girl turned and ran towards the streets.

Rouen was a city that had seen centuries pass it by, carrying with it a vintage charm that captured the hearts of French natives and tourists alike. That charm could have been a balm...if it hadn't seen carnage itself the night before. Even a few hundred casualties compared to seventy five percent of Paris' population was a massive body count. Marinette was used to moving through crowds. Paris had... _had_ 2.1 million people. But passing through all of these people - natives to Rouen and refugees of Paris - caused her panic to push against the walls of her mind. Every face she saw that wasn't Tom's only amplified it.

"Papa?" Marinette called. "Papa?" No one turned to look at her, _Okay, Marinette, stay calm. His arm was hurt. He probably wouldn't have a reason to be up and around - unless he was looking for me. Oh no, what if he is looking for me? What if we never find each other?_

"PAPA!" A few looked in her direction. Not one of them was Tom Dupain. Her heart pressed against her rib cage. Where was he? Where _was_ he? Her hands flew to her head, her fingers clawing against her scalp. No, no, nononono, he couldn't be hecouldnthecouldnthecouldnt-

"Marinette?"

Her panic parried at the sound of a familiar voice. Not her father, but _definitely_ someone she recognized. Marinette turned sharply behind her.

"A-Adrien?"

In normal circumstances, Marinette would have flailed and faltered over her words trying to string together a coherent sentence. However, him standing there, mostly unscathed, alive, and, most importantly, sane caused her heart to slowly recede into its normal rhythm and the alarms in her head to silence. However, all thought was quickly cast into the ashen wind, and she launched herself toward him, locking him in her arms.

"ADRIEN!" Marinette felt his body stiffen slightly, probably taken aback by her embrace. Before she could register this, the chains of composure snapped, and the turmoil that had retreated at the sound of his voice flooded every corner of her mind. Once the first sob tumbled out, there was no stopping the others from falling out in succession. Her tears flowed like torrential rivers into Adrien's shirt. So deep the thorns of grief cut into her, she was barely aware of Adrien awkwardly returning the gesture.

"Thank goodness you're okay." His words sounded like a sigh of relief.

"Adri-I-I…" Marinette's thoughts flashed through every corpse she and Chat Noir managed to pull from the rubble. She had lost count within three consecutive faces she knew, and with more people trapped and praying for her and her partner to come get them, there had been no time to stop and grieve for them and the many more they found that night and this morning.

"Marinette," Adrien soothed. "I-It's okay, I'm right here." Through her sobs, she felt his chest tighten, as if he were holding back something within. Did his father make it out? How did he survive? What was he-?

Then she remembered what Chat Noir said, and her sobbing froze to a halt.

" _There was an explosion."_

And just like that, the words set fire to her despair.

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryimsorryimsosorryimso-." The phrase was lost in incoherence, and her mind at the devastating loss he suffered. First his mother, now his father and probably Nathalie too. Marinette wasn't sure who she was crying for anymore: herself? Adrien? All of Paris, including them?

"Marinette, hey." Adrien's hold on her tightened ever so slightly, a harness in the mess of her sadness. "I heard you were looking for your father?"

That sentence pulled Marinette's head out of his chest, and she looked straight into Adrien's eyes. "Y-You-." She sniffed. "You saw him?"

"I'm not completely sure, but I know it was at a bakery not too far from here," Adrien explained. "They're making some baked goods for the survivors-."

Marinette pulled herself away from Adrien completely, her eyes wide and shining with hope for the first time since ten hours ago.

"Adrien...I'm sorry to ask this of you, but could you…" She swallowed. "...take me there? I have to see him."

"Yeah." Adrien nodded. "This way."

Had this happened yesterday afternoon, Marinette's heart would have been an uncontrollable amalgamation of emotions at even the thought of spending time with Adrien. Actually, it was now, just not the kind of emotions she wanted to feel. Agony. Guilt. Anxiety. Bereavement. Even the presence of Adrien Agreste couldn't numb them. With every step she took to follow him, the anxiety that tore apart her mind grew stronger. What if Adrien had mistaken someone else for Tom? No, no, Tom was pretty unmistakable, being the gentle giant he was. But his arm was all but incapacitated last night, how could he be-? Well, with him, when there was a will, there was a way. But -

Marinette silenced her brain long enough to speak.

"How did you get to Rouen?" she asked.

"Chat Noir saved me," Adrien explained. "Just before my…" He paused, and Marinette swore she saw sadness cross his face for just a second. "...Before my house was destroyed, there was a light coming out of it. He figured my father had been akumatized again, so he got me out of there before the explosion. Someone found me and then drove me here."

"Who?" Marinette asked.

"Didn't recognize them."

 _Makes sense. There wouldn't have been much time to think about names and faces if you were just trying to survive._ Marinette wiped a few excess tears off her face. "Um...d-did your, uh…?" She came to a wall at the remainder of the sentence, unsure of how to ask.

It was as if Adrien had read her mind. "They didn't find any bodies while going through what was left."

Marinette's eyes widened. "Then, is it possible Gabriel, Nathalie, and your bodyguard could be here?"

"Hope so."

Adrien's tone was solemn. It sounded like he wasn't holding his breath on that being the case. But she still could hear a microscopic glimmer of hope. Oh, how Marinette ached to say something, anything that could somehow take the weight of the black possibility off of him, even for just a second. She was usually good at this. But in the wake of what just happened, all words failed her.

 _Finally_ , Adrien led her to a building that looked like it came out of ages gone by. The windows had been smashed into obliteration, but that didn't stop people from lining up from around the corner. Marinette remembered lines like this. They would only be able to keep up with the demand by some miracle, but everyone who walked out of the...no, her bakery always did so with a smile on their face. Those who walked in were always so eager to get their hands on anything the bakery had available, from croissants to macaroons to anything that could be named. That was only a distant memory now. The line had to be colossal in numbers, and their faces were anything but expectant. The hope that once lit their eyes at the thought of biting into a buttery croissant had been snuffed out. Now, they only waited for sustenance to get them through this day.

Marinette's lips trembled. _How many?_ she asked. _How many of them did we...did I fail?_

Adrien walked straight to the doorframe, where a figure in a white sweatshirt with the hood pulled up stood between the splintered wood. Had the door been torn off the hinges last night?

"Excuse me, sir." Adrien waved to indicate himself.

The man - holy _crap,_ Marinette just realized how much of a giant he was compared to them - turned to look down at them. She wasn't exactly sure what kind of gaze he held on the two teenagers, though. She was too distracted by his eye, which stood out against his dark skin. It wasn't just the iris, she noticed. It looked like someone had poured molten gold into it, and there was no clear shape within.

"Her father is in there," Adrien explained. "They haven't seen each other since last night, and -."

Without a word, the man shifted rightward, allowing them room through the door.

"Thank you!" Adrien gently pulled Marinette along.

She gave a smile towards the man, but when her blue eyes locked onto his golden one, something felt...off. And definitely not in a good way. She pushed the thought away. It was probably nothing, and she needed to find Tom. Walking into this bakery was like walking through an overcrowded prison. It seemed that the line exploded into an amalgam once they passed the man with the golden eye. Despite Adrien's efforts to go between people, they were lucky if they could even step one foot forward. Marinette attempted to survey the small lobby from her tiptoes, but with the sheer amount of people in the room, she couldn't catch a glimpse of anything that would indicate her father was anywhere here.

"Oh please be here, _pleasebehere_ ," Marinette chanted under her breath. "Papa!? Papa!" Once again, her heart began to pound like a mace repeatedly beating against it.

"Marinette?" Once again, not her father's voice, but someone else she recognized.

"Who's that?" Marinette asked.

"Excuse me, excuse me...oh, I'm sorry." A girl's voice. A girl's voice that was quite high pitched - Marinette darted her eyes to her left. From the crowd emerged a fair skinned arm, a pink bracelet the dark haired girl recognized immediately.

"Rose?" Marinette called. "Is that you?"

Rose finally fell through the rest of the people, colliding with Marinette and catching herself in an embrace around her friend.

"Oh, Marinette! _Marinette!_ " the blonde wailed.

"Rose! You're okay!" Marinette returned the hug on reflex.

Rose squeezed Marinette tightly with a slight keen. "I-I-I...I didn't th-think any more of my friends...got out of Paris!"

"Wait." Keeping her hands on Rose's shoulders, Marinette pulled away slightly to look into her teary, crystalline blue eyes. "What happened? Where were you when everything... went down?" She couldn't make herself finish.

Rose wiped her eyes with her palms and sniffed. "Kitty Section met for practice at the Couffaines," she explained. "We were doing a sound check outside when I saw this ginormous pillar of light. I-I don't know how long I looked at it, but…" She wavered on the last word, taking in a shaky breath before continuing. "I turned around and Ivan and Juleka's eyes were glowing red. Next thing I knew, Juleka started waving her guitar at Luka, she hit him a couple of times. Ivan jumped on me. He was…" Rose sniffed. "He was so strong, stronger than when he was akumatized. I-I thought he was gonna...k-k- kill me. But then Mrs. Couffaine attacked him. I managed to get away. All I really remember…" Rose sniffed again. "Luka got me off the ship."

 _I saw Ivan,_ Marinette remembered. _Looks like he got off too._ "What about Juleka and her mom? And...Luka?" Marinette was scared for the answer.

Rose looked down at the floor, which was more pairs of feet than tile. "Luka and I couldn't move too fast. I think Juleka broke a few of his ribs...but I…" She swallowed hard, the tears returning with a vengeance. "I saw the ship catch fire and...s-s-sink. And I didn't...I haven't seen Juleka or her mom since."

"What about Luka?" Marinette pressed.

"He's here," Rose clarified. "They managed to get him to a hospital, but I don't know how he is now."

Marinette pulled Rose into another embrace. Another friend, another sister, another daughter lost to the fires that hollowed out their home, her mother lying below the Seine with her.

"What about your parents?" Marinette asked.

"Still looking," Rose wept. "I just came here to get s-some bread or a croissant."

 _Oh, Rose...Juleka..._

Marinette wished this was the only casualty. But they were just two more to the body count. Two more people she had failed. Maybe three, unless Ivan survived the night.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry, I'm sorry…"

Marinette had no idea how she still had tears to cry. She wanted to transform right there and cast her yo-yo skyward just to bring everyone lost back, to bring Paris back to life. But Tikki's warning echoed in her mind.

" _Once you help Chat Noir, do not use your Miraculous Ladybug power."_

 _Why, Tikki?_ Marinette mentally beseeched. _Why can't I bring them all back?_

"Marinette?" She heard Adrien approach from behind.

"Adrien!" Rose cried. "You're okay!"

Marinette released her friend now, letting her talk to Adrien while she continued to search for her father. As crowded as this bakery was, she could still see a few people she recognized, even from behind.

 _Kim! Kim made it out! Wait...okay, his parents are here. Oh jeez, is his leg broken? I think that's...Sabrina! Oh no. Was she with Chloe when she...went psycho, I guess?_ She turned her head. _...Lila's here too. It doesn't look like she's got anyone with her. Should I-? No. I gotta find Papa._

Marinette futzed her way through, apologizing and hastily explaining to anyone she cut in front of. With her mission in mind, it was an effective dam against the dead faces of those she and Chat Noir managed to recover. Max was here too, hallelujah. She had yet to see Nathaniel, oh he would be heartbroken if he didn't know about Marc yet. But with every face she knew and saw, the horror struck expressions of the dead pushed harder against the dam.

 _We're in Rouen, Marinette_ , she tried to remind herself. _Rouen, Rouen, Rouen..._

"Papa?" she called.

"Marinette?"

That voice she recognized and _that_ voice she wanted to hear. Jumping off her tiptoes, Marinette looked straight ahead. There he was, towering the other bakers and flitting between the oven and the counter. Aside from his injured arm now in a sling, Tom didn't appear to have any other injuries that needed immediate attention.

"PAPA!" Marinette hopped up and down, waving her arms like a crazed child in an attempt to get his attention. Her wild strategy paid off; she saw Tom's eyes lock dead on with hers, and she started pushing harder through the crowd. She had to reach him, _she had to reach -_

Her frantic thoughts were cut off by her colliding into someone's chest, their arm wrapped around her. Even incapactitated, Tom had managed to wade through the people just to embrace his daughter. Marinette returned the gesture, on the verge of tears once more.

"I-I-I th-thought I-I was gonna...lose you last night." Even as Ladybug, Marinette had no way to know her father's fate after she took off with Chat Noir and left Tom in the bakery. To see him alive flooded her chest with overwhelming happiness, like first light coming into a darkened room.

"I was so worried about you," Tom said softly. "Especially after what happened with…"

He trailed off. It was gentle, almost suppressed, but Marinette suddenly felt his body begin to tremble, and water drops fall into her hair. No. Not just water drops, she realized. Tom couldn't be faulted, though. Remembering Sabine's red eyes alone made her want to weep even more than she already had. Regardless, she managed to pull herself together long enough to say something.

"You're okay," she soothed. "Right now, we've got to help these people. Let me come back there."

"We could definitely use the help," Tom replied. Quickly informing her that all products were free with the number of people migrating from Paris, he set Marinette up to receive orders alongside another man who had offered help earlier that morning.

She was grateful she recognized this man, but still shocked to see him handing a box of croissants to a woman with two frightened children clinging to her skirt.

"Mas...? I mean, great uncle?" Marinette whispered.

He turned to look at her.

"Marinette, you made it," Fu observed happily.

"I was more worried about you," she countered. "Thank goodness. Doesn't look like you're hurt."

"We need to talk as soon as possible. But let's help these people first. Find _him_ , meet me at the Nettadrie Hotel, and I'll explain everything."

Marinette nodded and turned to help the next survivor approaching her.

She lost count of how much bread they gave away within the first hour. Within four, it could have crossed into the lower thousands. Marinette was oddly okay with this. Maybe it was the sense of normalcy that came with it. It was tattered, but for this little pocket of time, it was somewhat normal, regardless. Still, the tatters were apparent. The refugees' faces pierced her heart every time Marinette looked them in the eyes. She wanted to look away from them, pretend that they didn't just suffer their most devastating losses fourteen hours earlier.

Fourteen hours...she didn't recall stopping for a moment with Chat Noir even after the massacre.

Now that the realization crept into her, she felt her brain soften, fading into mist. And yet, there were still...so...many…

 _Huh?_

Something soft lay compressed underneath her...a bed.

 _My bed?_ Marinette's eyes fluttered open, slowly looking around. _No. Not my bed._

Just a yard to her side, a distinctive, breathy, yet quite loud rumbling. When she looked over, a gigantic, dark shape relaxed on the bed next to her.

 _Oh, good, Papa's here,_ Marinette concluded. She turned her eyes to the room around her. _...Did he bring me here?_

The walls around her were a soft baby blue color, darkened by the lack of light within. A set of white French doors gave her a glimpse outside - _wow,_ how long had she slept? The sky had turned from grey to black in the course of… Marinette turned her head to look at a digital clock next to her. She grimaced.

 _One thirty!? I better find Master Fu if he hasn't gone to bed yet! Where did he say we'd meet again? Netta...something...shoot!_

"Marinette?"

"Hey, Tikki," Marinette whispered. Under Tom's snoring, conversing with her kwami would unlikely be a problem. What happened?"

"You collapsed behind the counter," Tikki explained. "You may be a superhero, but you still need to sleep. Your father brought you back here to the Nettadrie Hotel so you could."

Marinette blinked, processing this. It was only then she realized her blazer had been removed, and her shoes were off. Even with one arm useless, he was still looking after her. "How...how long did I sleep?"

"Exactly thirteen hours and twenty-four minutes. Master Fu saw you collapse, and he said it was fine you slept. But first thing in the morning, we've got to talk to him."

"Wait. Tikki, where did you say we are?"

"The Nettadrie Hotel," Tikki clarified.

 _Nettadrie._ Marinette's blue eyes widened.

"Master Fu told me to meet him here!" she whispered. Swinging her legs off the bed, her feet found her flats and slid into them.

"Marinette, wait!" Tikki quietly urged. The girl paused, looking back at her kwami. "He's probably asleep himself. He helped you and Chat Noir too, remember?"

Marinette blinked. "That's true. He held off that…" She shuddered. Just the mere memory of whatever confronted her in the alley was enough to freeze her blood. _What...what did Hawk Moth get his hands on!?_ "...Thing. So Chat Noir and I could get away."

"While you slept, I searched Paris. Chat Noir wound up needing sleep himself."

"Is he-?" Marinette started.

Tikki nodded. "No doubt Master Fu will wanna talk to both of you in the morning. Try to get back to sleep."

Marinette nodded. Although now that the shape had re-entered her memories, sleep was now something that would be easier said than attained.

When she opened her eyes again, full morning light had pierced the glass of the doors and her attempts to get more sleep were met with flashback after flashback.

Marinette didn't want to think about it. All those people that had met cruel fates for no reason other than - _ah!_ Her hand flew to her mouth, her stomach twisting in protest. Though she had washed the blood off her palms, the foul, warm texture lingered, coating her lips. She trembled, trying to push those she failed out of her mind long enough for her to get up.

 _Miss Bustier. Mylene. Juleka and her mom. Officer Raincomprix. Marc. Principal Damocles. Mrs. Kante, Mr. Ramier…_

"Marinette?"

They were only the first in the book of casualties she cataloged in her mind. How long had they waited for her? No...no, Juleka didn't. Her mind was lost before she even realized what happened. So was Mr. Ramier's, but she _saw_ his skull get smashed into a burning tree in the park by another person. Officer Raincomprix, heroic as he was in his efforts, never stood a chance.

"Marinette."

 _Stopstopstop-_ Marinette's fingers clawed through her hair and scratched her temples as all of them - not just the first few names, all of those who perished last night - burst through the dam in her mind. _Why?_ she heard them say. _Why didn't you save us?_

 _Save us, Ladybug. Save us, Ladybug. SAVE US, LADYBUG! LADYBUGLADYBUGLADYBUG-_

"Marinette!"

Tikki's call rocked Marinette's whole body, bringing her back to the present.

"Wh-What?" she asked. "I-uh-!"

"Marinette, are you okay?" Tikki asked. With her speaking out loud, it was safe to assume Tom had left the room.

 _Wait._ Where was Tom?

A piece of paper left on the end table between the two beds answered that question.

 _Got up early to go help open the bakery,_ Tom had scrawled. _Still more people displaced and likely starving. The room door is locked, so you're safe in here. Focus on resting today. If you need anything, there's a room key in the table._

 _Thanks for all your help yesterday. Je t'aime._

 _-Papa_

Oh, Marinette _wanted_ to focus on resting. But it was _impossible_ knowing Hawk Moth now posed a larger threat than just akumatizing people. Speaking of Hawk Moth…

"Where's Master Fu?" she asked.

"In the room across from you," Tikki replied.

Swinging her legs out of the bed, Marinette's feet found her flats and slid into them. Grabbing her blazer off a chair in the room and her key, she burst out of the room and pounded on the door in front of her. Fortunately, it didn't take long before the door cracked open.

"Marinette." Fu's eyes locked with hers from the soft darkness.

"Master, I'm sorry I slept through yesterday, I-."

"I was there," the guardian reminded her. "It's all right. Locate Chat Noir and meet back here."

Marinette nodded. But it was only when she returned to her own room that her heart dropped into her stomach.

"I said I'd meet him yesterday and then - Ohh, I hope he's not upset with me! Tikki, Spots On!"

Rather than jump out the window, however, Ladybug slid her yo-yo upward, activating the communicator built within.

"Chat Noir, are you there?" she whispered, so not to draw attention from the neighboring rooms.

It was quiet. Too quiet. But her communicator indicated Chat Noir could be reached -

"Yeah. Just checking in on a few citizens," he finally answered.

 _Wow._ Ladybug's eyes widened with both surprise and admiration. _He took the time to go give them a sense of hope, and here I am, just having woken up._ "Hey, sorry about yesterday," she said. "I went looking for my family and then -."

"Sleep deprivation?" Chat Noir finished.

"You too?"

"Fortunately, Ni - I mean, somebody I know as a civilian brought me back to the Nettadrie Hotel."

"Did you sleep okay?"

"Nope. Did you find your family?"

"...Yes." _And no._ "What about you?"

Dead silence. Ladybug's heart went into free fall as the gloomy realization cast over her. "Chat, I -."

"Where are you, Ladybug?" Chat Noir interrupted.

"Me?" Ladybug asked. "Uh, the Nettradie. Room 308 hasn't been occupied yet, so I'm waiting in there. Listen, there's somebody we need to talk to right away. He knows what happened and what this is."

"Give me a few minutes. I won't be too long."

"Please, hurry."

Ladybug shut her communicator and looked beyond the doors. Staring out through glass felt so strange, knowing that this wasn't Pa...home. This wasn't _home._ As her eyes traced the old buildings out below, nostalgia tugged at her heart. It was like she was in some other vessel, staring out into someone else's reality, someone else's life. But even that someone else likely shared the agony that weighed within her chest. A home obliterated, loved ones gone...maybe even worse than gone. One of those _things_ still crawling through what remained, maybe even looking for more blood to shed.

The rims of Ladybug's eyes caught fire.

 _Mom…_

Yesterday, Ladybug recognized her with that warm smile that greeted her, that maternal love that went beyond her family. But she only closed her eyes briefly before she heard her howling with bloodlust in the living area, stabbing her once-beloved husband's arm before turning that same blade on her. Even Ladybug offering her identity up didn't deter her from her mission…

A hard _clomp_ outside. She managed to hold back her tears long enough to see a figure with golden hair and garbed in black stand up and walk through -

"My lady," Chat Noir greeted.

"You're here." Ladybug's smile was poignant. At least he made it through that night as well.

"Where's this guy we gotta meet?"

"Just across the hall." Ladybug gestured to the door.

Chat Noir nodded and followed her. But just as she put her fingers on the doorknob…

"Should we de-transform for this?" Chat Noir asked.

She paused, looking at him. " _No, we can't know each other's identities!"_ was always her reflexive answer. That was the cardinal rule that they absolutely could not break. But what if someone walked through the hall and saw them go into Fu's room? That would be one more disaster beyond repairing -

"Let's get there first." Ladybug twisted the knob and walked out of the room. Like a child at a street, she looked down both ends of the hall. Once she knew they were clear, she once again knocked on the door in front of her. It cracked open, Fu's familiar eyes looking outward.

"Good, you're both here," he said. Looking behind her, Ladybug and Chat Noir entered the room. With all the ancient ornamentation she was accustomed to seeing in the massage shop, it was jarring to walk into such a plain room.

Not nearly as jarring as there being another person in the room.

"Huh?" Ladybug abruptly paused. "Bunnix?"

"Looks like you guys made it through the night." The rabbit hero cocked her head.

"So did you." Chat Noir was audibly relieved.

"Just barely," Bunnix replied. "Sit down. The four of us've gotta talk."

* * *

 **Yes, yes, yes, I know! I know! I killed Ms. Bustier snd spared Lila! I'm sorry! It's not my fault massacres like that are unfair.**

 **But anyways! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I more hope you all are staying safe from COVID-19. If you're an essential worker, know that not all heroes wear a Miraculous. Some wear scrubs, aprons, and first responder uniforms.**

 **You're awesome. Thank you so much for all that you do during these difficult times.**

 **And be sure to check out Kristine Angela Booth on here, since she beta'd this chapter.**

 **Thank you for reading and following** ** _Miraculous Soul!_**


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